NationStates Jolt Archive

This is another one of my conspiracy theories so bear with me. Is WoW a brainwash tool? If so what purpose does it serve? Why would they be doing it?

They want to make money. People like mindless repetitive shit.

I'm afraid I have trouble understanding how WoW could be used as a brainwash tool

I'm afraid I have trouble understanding how WoW could be used as a brainwash tool

You'd be amazed what people will do to get a set of Epics.

You'd be amazed what people will do to get a set of Epics.

QFT (http://images.mmosite.com/news/2007/04/16/20070416000859317.jpg) :p

I'm afraid I have trouble understanding how WoW could be used as a brainwash tool

Well according to an unnfunny ytmnd it says the guide site rules say you can't play if you don't play all the time for a long time and your application must me well written and long. Which leads me to believe they for some reason want to brainwash good writers or the elite (assuming that good writers are goos scholastically in most everything else in general) I think it's brainwash because sooooooo many get obsessed with it to a sad point.

Brainwashing them to do what exactly?

This is another one of my conspiracy theories so bear with me. Is WoW a brainwash tool? If so what purpose does it serve? Why would they be doing it?

WoW like all paid MMORPGs is a money making machine that squeezes money out of people susceptible to "just one more" thoughts.

Well according to an unnfunny ytmnd it says the guide site rules say you can't play if you don't play all the time for a long time and your application must me well written and long. Which leads me to believe they for some reason want to brainwash good writers or the elite (assuming that good writers are goos scholastically in most everything else in general) I think it's brainwash because sooooooo many get obsessed with it to a sad point.

wait, what? What guide rules?

wait, what? What guide rules?

He meant "guild" ;)

WoW is awful. I had to stop after 2 days because I wanted to claw my own eyes out due to sheer boredom.

He meant "guild" ;)

ok...well a private guild is a private organization yes? what the hell does that have to do with what Blizzard does?

ok...well a private guild is a private organization yes? what the hell does that have to do with what Blizzard does?

But maybe the guilds are secretly run by secret Blizzard employees who are secretly also government employees secretly brainwashing the WoW playerbase, because they are obviously all so uber 1 3 3 7 (man, I almost got that stupid philter again :headbang: ) and so the government needs to control them? That's what the suggestion is, isn't it?

WoW is awful. I had to stop after 2 days because I wanted to claw my own eyes out due to sheer boredom.

Srsly. All the time wasted on WoW is that much less time spent making a new Starcraft game.

an expression of amazement with poor grammar.

wait, what? What guide rules?

http://www.nihilum.co.uk

Go to ytmnd ca look up "unfunny WoW" there you'll find an unyunny ytmnd that explains this and uses that site for reference. I couldn't post it here because the last part has a naked woman in it and a greather than sign pointing to her with the small end pointing to WoW the burning crusades.

http://www.nihilum.co.uk

OK and this is a PRIVATE guild...what about it?

OK and this is a PRIVATE guild...what about it?

look at my previous post. I edited.

look at my previous post. I edited.

and i will ask again. this is a PRIVATE guild. Its rules are rules of a PRIVATE guild. Why in hell are you using the rules of a PRIVATE guild to try and demonstrate that WoW is "brainwashing" someone?

Srsly. All the time wasted on WoW is that much less time spent making a new Starcraft game.

Or, you know, doing something actually productive. ;)

Like, say, arguing on NSG.

and i will ask again. this is a PRIVATE guild. Its rules are rules of a PRIVATE guild. Why in hell are you using the rules of a PRIVATE guild to try and demonstrate that WoW is "brainwashing" someone?

All the other guilds are the same, tho, right? Maybe it's part of the coverup they had to frame OJ for. Blizzard is based in SoCal . . . :tinhat:

Only in the loosest of senses. It is undoubtedly designed to be addictive.

Srsly. All the time wasted on WoW is that much less time spent making a new Starcraft game.

Why would they want to make a new game... that's a financial risk. They're much better off pouring time into making WoW last as long as possible.

Why would they want to make a new game... that's a financial risk. They're much better off pouring time into making WoW last as long as possible.

Because Starcraft was pretty much what made them wealthy and successful enough to make WoW? It's one of the best selling PC games of all time and is still played by a lot of people. That kind of loyalty could make them a fortune if they made a sequel that was as good or better than the original.

Because Starcraft was pretty much what made them wealthy and successful enough to make WoW? It's one of the best selling PC games of all time and is still played by a lot of people. That kind of loyalty could make them a fortune if they made a sequel that was as good or better than the original.
Yeah, that happens all the time :p

starcraft 2 could be a animated gif of kerrigan dancing set in a continuous loop to techno music and it would still be a license to print money.

Starcraft developed by 420chan? :O

Because Starcraft was pretty much what made them wealthy and successful enough to make WoW? It's one of the best selling PC games of all time and is still played by a lot of people. That kind of loyalty could make them a fortune if they made a sequel that was as good or better than the original.

starcraft 2 could be a animated gif of kerrigan dancing set in a continuous loop to techno music and it would still be a license to print money.

WoW isn't so bad, I played for 2 months pretty much all the time, these days though I don't have the time, I got to a lvl35 human warrior.

Yeah, that happens all the time :p

Hey, Blizzard's done it before, they can do it again.

WoW is the one thing in the world that could make me support Jack Thompson.

WoW is the one thing in the world that could make me support Jack Thompson.

Seconded with gusto.

This is why people should be playing MxO, we don't want to brainwash you, and we really don't care how much you play. Really, all we want are active Org. liaisons. Play The Matrix Online, because Trinity will sex you up!

WoW is a game that trives on some humans tendency to become addicted to something.

They add shiny graphics, chalenges, competition and everything can be achieved by using your hand and clicking in a screen using a mouse.

They add shiny graphics

I hope you're not implying that WoW has good graphics. I've seen dog food with better graphics than WoW.

WoW is awful. I had to stop after 2 days because I wanted to claw my own eyes out due to sheer boredom.

You think that's bad? I had to stop after fifteen minutes.

You think that's bad? I had to stop after fifteen minutes.

Urk.

For some reason, being some kind of 8-foot cow beating up small birds isn't entertaining.

I hope you're not implying that WoW has good graphics. I've seen dog food with better graphics than WoW.

It is good enough. And have you seen Second Life? Now, that is dog shit, not food.

And its shinny. Hell, people get addicted to slot machines because it shines.

It is good enough. And have you seen Second Life? Now, that is dog shit, not food.

And its shinny. Hell, people get addicted to slot machines because it shines.

Second Life has the Patriotic Nigras, I-Hat and various /b/ troll groups though. That's class. WoW has... Probably kobolds.

Yes, I helped make it, but my program called for people being made into armies of mindless slaves to our will.

Of course term slave sparked to much debate as it was against the very Consitution so my version had to be scrapped, in the U.S. and Europe at least.:p

Urk.

For some reason, being some kind of 8-foot cow beating up small birds isn't entertaining.

Being a run-of-the-mill "Warrior" that you can barely customise and killing rats in a mine for ten minutes is even less fun.

That's how I benchmark all MMO games. I use the most ordinary character class and run through for ten minutes. If it's the same shit as every MMO before it, then no thanks. And WoW is the same shit as every other MMO.

Grinding, nothing more.

What is WoW?

Over rated.

Being a run-of-the-mill "Warrior" that you can barely customise and killing rats in a mine for ten minutes is even less fun.

That's how I benchmark all MMO games. I use the most ordinary character class and run through for ten minutes. If it's the same shit as every MMO before it, then no thanks. And WoW is the same shit as every other MMO.

Grinding, nothing more.

Maybe that's the problem. Jeez you don't get all the good stuff after playing for 10 minutes on an ordinary character. You got to jazz it up, and keep pushing man!

warcraft? fuck that! i mean, i know next to nothing about it except that it's some sort of fantasy fighting thing, but just the name puts me off. it screams d&d/warhammer geek to me. wouldn't touch it with yours.

Hey, don't slam D&D! That's a hell of a lot cooler than WoW.

QF fucking T.

Don't associate us with those losers, or you'll see what a few quickened horrid wiltings can do.

warcraft? fuck that! i mean, i know next to nothing about it except that it's some sort of fantasy fighting thing, but just the name puts me off. it screams d&d/warhammer geek to me. wouldn't touch it with yours.

Hey, don't slam D&D! That's a hell of a lot cooler than WoW.

Hey, don't slam D&D! That's a hell of a lot cooler than WoW.

well, i might touch it with yours, being all metal and shit. :)

but still, the only thing cool about d&d to me is the initials themselves, once you find out what they stand for its just... well...dungeons and dragons,,. to me that says it all :p

QF fucking T.

Don't associate us with those losers, or you'll see what a few quickened horrid wiltings can do.

Yeah, just wait until I throw down a Gate or two. Nothing like some barbazu to get the game rolling.

Tibia pwns WoW.

If other games are better than WoW, then why the 9 million subscribers?

If other games are better than WoW, then why the 9 million subscribers?

Windows isn't so great either... neither are iPods... just because something's popular doesn't make it good.

If other games are better than WoW, then why the 9 million subscribers?

Chinese gold farmers? :p

Chinese gold farmers? :p

What is Gold Farmers anyways? I've always heard that term but never understood it, we don't use it in the Matrix Online circle.

Windows isn't so great either... neither are iPods... just because something's popular doesn't make it good.

That is true.

If other games are better than WoW, then why the 9 million subscribers?

"Popular" and "good" mean different things.

I, for instance, am awesome... but because lesser minds cannot comprehend this unquestionable truth, I am not exactly popular.

What is Gold Farmers anyways? I've always heard that term but never understood it, we don't use it in the Matrix Online circle.

Gold farmer are people who professionally kill monsters and "farm" gold and items off them, then sell them for real cash.

If other games are better than WoW, then why the 9 million subscribers?

Because Koreans and Chinese are sheep. Like I said, you could take a piece of shit, stick it in a jewel case and call it TurdCraft, and they'd buy 5 copies each.

Windows isn't so great either... neither are iPods... just because something's popular doesn't make it good.
iPods arn't so much popular as their competition fails at advertising and selling their damn products, and Apple is running an monopoly scheme with the iPod and iTunes. They bought the jail and are charging people for landing there.

This is another one of my conspiracy theories so bear with me. Is WoW a brainwash tool? If so what purpose does it serve? Why would they be doing it?
Tribal Wars is better.

iPods arn't so much popular as their competition fails at advertising and selling their damn products, and Apple is running an monopoly scheme with the iPod and iTunes. They bought the jail and are charging people for landing there.

Mmm, I'd never buy an iPod. I only got mine because I won it. I'm thinking of getting a Zune.

I told myself a few years ago that I won't play another MMO game until Star Trek: Online gets released. I'm still waiting, but hopefully not too much longer.

I told myself a few years ago that I won't play another MMO game until Star Trek: Online gets released. I'm still waiting, but hopefully not too much longer.
it will be released on the same day as Duke Nukem Forever?

Maybe that's the problem. Jeez you don't get all the good stuff after playing for 10 minutes on an ordinary character. You got to jazz it up, and keep pushing man!

Mmm. Actually very true. I've changed my opinion on WoW. I used to dislike it (and all other MMOs), but when you find a group of good people to play with and stick at it past the initial stages it rapidly becomes a lot more fun. Once you get into instances teamwork becomes really important, the quests get more interesting, and you really begin to see the amount of work put into the game.

The main problem with the game it is that it can be very unfriendly to new players and Blizzard doesn't do much about that. So many players turn away before getting into the meat of the game (as I did previously, soon after reaching level 16, and as comments made in this thread demonstrate). Too much is left to the player to discover, and the game doesn't say "Hey, you're level 16, you can start doing instances now!" Blizzard has left a lot of stuff for players to ask other people about, and unless you know someone that can guide you through these things and ask questions, you risk being laughed at. As a result, I didn't know anything about instancing, which seems so far to be the most fun part of the game. (My character is level 42 at the moment, and i've heard tell that things only get better from here on out)

And there are plenty of losers out there who like to make life tough for low-mid level characters that can't fight back. But once you're strong enough, heheh...

But yeah. You can't judge the game on the early levels. Starting out in many RPGs (online and offline) is an uphill struggle. By their nature, they appeal to a different type of gamer than ones looking to instantly be able to crush everything and anything in sight.

I have a couple of trial keys anyway, so if anyone wants to try it out give it another shot, let me know and i'll send you one. I believe you need to purchase the game to use them though, unfortunately. I play on the Barthilas server, so if you pick that one I can help you with stuff (but it is an Australian based server).

I watched a friend play WoW for about 20 minutes and wanted to shoot her in order to clear my way to the door.

The other friend who was also watching her play it (yes we asked her to show it to us), said to her, after she killed about her 50th bear or boar or whatever it was for no apparent reason, "You're killing a lot of things. Is there any kind of ... consequence for doing that?" She meant, does the game run out of animals or is there any kind of negative result from being a brainless cartoon killing zombie, but when she said it, I imagined a consequence like me shooting the player and running away.

It would have been for her own good.

and i will ask again. this is a PRIVATE guild. Its rules are rules of a PRIVATE guild. Why in hell are you using the rules of a PRIVATE guild to try and demonstrate that WoW is "brainwashing" someone?

Well if thats not proof then hear this. Why is it the majority of WoW players become sadly obsessed with WoW? It has to be brainwashing, something like that couldn't have happened by chance.

I watched a friend play WoW for about 20 minutes and wanted to shoot her in order to clear my way to the door.

The other friend who was also watching her play it (yes we asked her to show it to us), said to her, after she killed about her 50th bear or boar or whatever it was for no apparent reason, "You're killing a lot of things. Is there any kind of ... consequence for doing that?" She meant, does the game run out of animals or is there any kind of negative result from being a brainless cartoon killing zombie, but when she said it, I imagined a consequence like me shooting the player and running away.

It would have been for her own good.

*nods*

I watched a friend play WoW for about 20 minutes and wanted to shoot her in order to clear my way to the door.

The other friend who was also watching her play it (yes we asked her to show it to us), said to her, after she killed about her 50th bear or boar or whatever it was for no apparent reason, "You're killing a lot of things. Is there any kind of ... consequence for doing that?" She meant, does the game run out of animals or is there any kind of negative result from being a brainless cartoon killing zombie, but when she said it, I imagined a consequence like me shooting the player and running away.

It would have been for her own good.

Your friend is an idiot. "Grinding" like that isn't the way to play any game. It's fucking boring.

Your friend is an idiot. "Grinding" like that isn't the way to play any game. It's fucking boring.
Well, in fairness, she was waiting for her husband who was out of town to log on for their pre-arranged "play date," so there is a chance she was only "grinding" for our benefit because we had been asking her about it. On the other hand, every time I go over to their house, that game is on their computer, even when both spouses are home, so go figure. Who knows what they get up to.

The reason my other friend and I asked her to show us what WoW was like was that we had been discussing ethics in gaming and the potential effect of so many games having their early origins in military training models. We wanted to see just how much killing is encouraged and in what context. Since then, I've looked at a lot of MMORPGs. WoW is one of the bad types, imo. Killing is merely a means to an end. There are only two kinds of non-PK targets: animals that don't matter because there will always be more where they came from; and monsters that are simply designated "evil" and therefore should be killed on sight, without question. There is no consequence of any kind for indescriminate slaughter, neither in loss of reputation nor temporary loss of resources. It is somewhat similar to the point-shoot mental training of combat soldiers. WoW is certainly not the worst such game, but it does fall squarely into that territory.

A few gamers I've talked to have said that this viewpoint is typical of gaming. I was in a discussion recently with a programmer about developing NPCs that have memory and will remember not only who kills them but also who helps them. When someone in the conversation mentioned that this could lead to players possibly making alliances with monsters, either for protection or for PK advantage, others commented that making friends with the monsters went against everything they had been conditioned to expect in RPG games. "Kill the enemy without question" is what they are trained to think.

There are a games that avoid that whole kind of context, but only a few that actually challenge it.

Hmm, I agree with some points and disagree with others...


The reason my other friend and I asked her to show us what WoW was like was that we had been discussing ethics in gaming and the potential effect of so many games having their early origins in military training models. We wanted to see just how much killing is encouraged and in what context. Since then, I've looked at a lot of MMORPGs. WoW is one of the bad types, imo. Killing is merely a means to an end. There are only two kinds of non-PK targets: animals that don't matter because there will always be more where they came from; and monsters that are simply designated "evil" and therefore should be killed on sight, without question. There is no consequence of any kind for indescriminate slaughter, neither in loss of reputation nor temporary loss of resources.

In terms of loss of resources, I think that's an unfortunate side effect of MMO mechanics. It's annoying enough as it is arriving at a quest object to see someone else take it and then having to wait 15 minutes for it to respawn. I think if people could wipe all the resources for a longer period, the game would be totally different and much less fun. Demand for leather and the various other animal products would remain the same and because it's a lot harder to get, the bias is far shifted to older, stronger players who can kill more in a given time period and thus deprive said resources from newer players. It wouldn't really work.

There are, however, consequences for indiscriminate slaughter in the form of reputation. You can go to war with various factions, and this deprives you of certain options in the form of quests and other services. In most cases you stand to gain more by NOT slaughtering them than doing so. My guild, for example, is planning to turn to pirating later. I'm sure it'll be great fun, but it's going to cause some pretty massive ramifications in terms of half of the game world becoming hostile to us. And if you want to be a big bad guy and raid the towns of the opposite faction, killing off all of their shopkeepers and quest giving NPCs, expect swift retaliation from the pissed off PCs in the area.

So while killing off animals and the like has little effect on anything, later on the ramifications of indiscriminate slaughter become a bit more apparent.

A few gamers I've talked to have said that this viewpoint is typical of gaming.

Some types more than others, I think.

I was in a discussion recently with a programmer about developing NPCs that have memory and will remember not only who kills them but also who helps them. When someone in the conversation mentioned that this could lead to players possibly making alliances with monsters, either for protection or for PK advantage, others commented that making friends with the monsters went against everything they had been conditioned to expect in RPG games. "Kill the enemy without question" is what they are trained to think.

Ah, especially in RPGs, I disagree - i'm not sure what games those guys were playing, but the better ones all let you pick and choose your friends to at least some degree - the Baldur's Gate series, for example. You get many opportunities to be a psychotic idiot, but the game discourages you from that. Even WoW has opportunities for that - in fact, I avoided a PKer chasing me the other day by running into the town of a tribe of centaur that I had befriended and he was hostile to.